Frayed Knot

d'Kong76 wrote: I think Comcastlady conflated Mets with MLB. Maybe someone here with out- of-market issues has more to add on this than I can. Yeah, the teams can't just willfully pick and choose who they want to shut out. That's something dictated by league-wide rules which has to do with various factors such as proximity to the city, the extent of coverage for the channels covering each team, and any other team(s) which might also have a claim to your area. And in the case of ESPN or FOX coverage it's the network's decision as to which markets get which games if there are multiples. MLB.TV will tell you which team(s) you're blacked out on if you go to their page and punch in your zip code.

Votto = Yes McCutcheon = No. Remember the Pirates, to big fanfare, made him a RF a year or two ago. Besides, as noted, the CF is in the AL. Catcher - Yadier Molina -- Seawolf 1B - Joey Votto -- JCL Incorrect = Andrew McCutcheon - CF

seawolf17 wrote: The catcher has to be Yadier Fucking Molina. Yup! Biggest gimme on the board IMO. Russell Martin is actually right on his tail starting behind the dish in each of the last 12 seasons, but has done so for four different clubs (LAD, MFY, TBJ, Pitt) over that streak. Catcher - Yadier Molina -- Seawolf

Which players have the longest active streaks starting in the same position for the same team on Opening Day? I'll supply the league where the active leader plays, the number of consecutive years he's started on OD including his expected started on Thursday, and for fun I'll tack on the all-time leader at each spot. You get to guess the active player in question (or you get to ignore this entirely) A couple of these made me say: "Really, THAT many for him?!?" As usual, try not to hog the board with too many consecutive guesses. Catcher (NL), This guy holds the longest active run at any position as Thursday will mark his 14th consecutive year starting behind the plate on OD: All-time leader = Ray Schalk who started 15 straight seasons with the ChiSox from 1913-1927 1st Base: (NL) 10 consecutive starts Joe Judge - 17 w/the Washington Senators from 1916-1932 2nd Base: (AL*) 7 (and, no, it's not Dustin Pedroia as he'll begin the season on the DL, breaking his run at 12) Lou Whitaker - 17 for the Tigers from 1978-1994 3rd Base: (AL) 7 (David Wright would be running out there for #14 tomorrow if not for his body parts falling off; instead he's now on his 2nd straight season of NOT starting) Brooks Robinson 20 for the Orioles from 1957-76 Short Stop: (AL) 10 Cal Ripken 14, Orioles, 1983-96; Jimmy Rollins, Phillies, 2001-14 Left Field: (AL) 8 (stability in the midst of an unstable position as no other LF in the game has a streak of more than 3 years going) Lou Brock, 13, StL, 1967-79 Center Field: (AL) 11 Willie Mays, 19, Giants, 1954-72 Right Field: 1 NL + 1 AL, 5 each. Both Giancarlo Stanton (8 years but a new team where he'll be DH'ing tomorrow) and Jose Bautista (7 years but not currently employed) are having their streaks broken tomorrow. 15, Roberto Clemente, Pirates, 1958-72 Pitcher: (AL) 10 Robin Roberts - 12, Phillies, 1950-61

Nats @ Reds has already been postponed. Heavy rain in midwest this week. They'll go Friday @ 4:00 instead. Oddities for Cincy openers - the last time they had to postpone the opener was in 1996 when HP umpire John McSherry collapsed on the field and died just as the game was about to start - back in 1966 the Mets were the Reds opponents for the opening series but the entire series was washed out and Cincy wound up playing their first game on the road. The first game for the Mets & Reds that year turned out to be April 15th

Yeah, I was concentrating on getting the outta town games to the point where I forgot to update that one. 12:40 (EDT) Cubs @ Marlins: Jon Lester vs Jose Urena 1:10 Pirates @ Tigers: Ivan Nova vs Jordan Zimmermann 1:10 Cardinals @ Mets: Carlos Martinez vs Noah Syndergaard 3:05 Twins @ Orioles: Jake Odorizzi vs Dylan Bundy 3:35 Astros @ Rangers: Justin Verlander vs Cole Hamels 3:37 Yankees @ Blue Jays: Luis Severino vs JA Happ 4:00 Red Sox @ Rays: Chris Sale vs Chris Archer 4:05 Angels @ Athletics: Garrett Richards vs Kendall Graveman 4:10 Brewers @ Padres: Chase Anderson vs Clayton Richard 4:10 Phillies @ Braves: Aaron Nola vs Julio Teheran 4:10 Nationals vs Reds: Max Scherzer vs Homer Bailey 4:15 White Sox @ Royals: James Shields vs Danny Duffy 7:08 Giants @ Dodgers: [crossout]Madison Bumgarner[/crossout] [crossout]Jeff Samarddzjia[/crossout] Ty Blach vs Clayton Kershaw 10:10 Indians @ Mariners: Corey Kluber vs Felix Hernandez 10:10 Rockies vs Diamondbacks: =#FF0000]Jon Gray vs =#FF0000]Patrick Corbin

12:40 (EDT) Cubs @ Marlins: Jon Lester vs Jose Urena 1:10 Pirates @ Tigers: Ivan Nova vs Jordan Zimmermann 1:10 Cardinals @ Mets: TBD vs Noah Syndergaard 3:05 Twins @ Orioles: Jake Odorizzi vs Dylan Bundy 3:35 Astros @ Rangers: Justin Verlander vs Cole Hamels 3:37 Yankees @ Blue Jays: Luis Severino vs JA Happ 4:00 Red Sox @ Rays: Chris Sale vs Chris Archer 4:05 Angels @ Athletics: Garrett Richards vs Kendall Graveman 4:10 Brewers @ Padres: Chase Anderson vs Clayton Richard 4:10 Phillies @ Braves: Aaron Nola vs Julio Teheran 4:10 Nationals vs Reds: Max Scherzer vs Homer Bailey 4:15 White Sox @ Royals: James Shields vs Danny Duffy 7:08 Giants @ Dodgers: Madison Bumgarner vs Clayton Kershaw 10:10 Indians @ Mariners: Corey Kluber vs Felix Hernandez 10:10 Rockies vs Diamondbacks: Jon Gray vs Patrick Corbin

cooby wrote: TV? I’m further west at my grandsons that day...maybe if it’s on ESPN I can actually tune in No ESPN, no MLBN

41Forever wrote: Hawkeye needs his own movie! There have been several: [fimg=200]http://images6.fanpop.com/image/photos/37200000/Nathaniel-Poe-Hawkeye-the-last-of-the-mohicans-37205875-500-575.jpg[/fimg] [fimg=300]https://www.bestmoviesbyfarr.com/static-assets/images/articles/background/2014/07/2-k5uf9x.jpg[/fimg]

The oft-injured 1B Greg Bird is injured once again as his "sore foot" of a couple of days ago turns out to be a bone spur on his ankle requiring surgery and his absence for something resembling 6-8 weeks off the beginning of this season. He had 147 ML ABs in 2017 which, added to the Zero he had in 2016 and the 157 from 2015 and that adds up to ... not much. He also only had a couple dozen minor league ABs in '16-'17, and most of that was in the Az Fall Lg

For when he either blows a game or merely threatens to by allowing the tying/winning runs to reach: Looks like I picked Abad time to quit sniffing glue [fimg=300]http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-LOuhOmW0qKY/UFAxZd-I2EI/AAAAAAAADB4/8DVR4eILLbc/s1600/Lloyd+Bridges+sniffing+glue.gif[/fimg]

Well, we won't be seeing Adam Wainwright during the opening series: to the DL with a hamstring strain. Of course this isn't as big an advantage in recent years as it would once was seeing as how the now-36 y/o Wainwright (37 in August) hasn't had a good and full season since 2014. He made just 4 starts in 2015, and while he made 33 & 23 in 2016-17, his ERA for those years were 4.62 & 5.11 StL reliever Luke Gregerson is also out with a more severe case of the same ailment.

[fimg=200]http://www.riprenfield.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/018-lou-costello-bad-boy.jpg[/fimg] "I've been Abad boy"

Phillies prospect Scott Kingery will make the ML roster to start the season. "Eh, big deal Frayed. Stop wasting our time with shit we don't care about!" -- and ordinarily I'd agree. The thing about this transaction which makes it interesting is that, before playing a day in the major leagues, the team is signing him to a Six-year contract covering through the 2023 season plus club options for 2024 & 2025 at an estimated $24 million. I don't believe this has ever been done before with a player with ZERO ML time. IIRC, Evan Longoria was signed to a similar length deal just a few weeks into his ML life, but he also had a higher pedigree compared to Kingery. Originally a walk-on U of Arizona and later a 2nd round pick 48th overall) for Philly in 2015 (Longoria was 1st R/3rd overall), Kingery is an IF with some pop and some defensive versatility, but he was only MLB.com's 35th ranked prospect and 2nd ranked in the Philly system, not normally a track record which suggests a 'can't miss' guy. Speculation was that he'd start the year in AAA, a la Kris Bryant a few years back, so as to delay his FA threshold for a year but this contract now makes that point moot (or 'mute' as some MoFo'ers used to say).

Thursday's weather in Flushing (acc to the 'Weather Channel' website): 61 and Cloudy, 8 mph wind WNW, 20% chance of rain Saturday: Partly cloudy high of 53, 19 mph WNW Sunday: Partly cloudy high of 48, 15 mph WSW As of now, Friday looks to be the day of rain so whoever made up the schedule is a genius.

Nimmo will be Zimmo!!

LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr wrote: Back with a vengeance... then out in August with the URL. So he's going to be sidelined with a virtual injury?

It's a move that makes sense really. He has options, there are other choices so he's clearly NOT one of the best five right now, and just as clearly he needs some time to figure out what's wrong and prove to them that he can fix it. fwiw, his ML service time currently sits at 4 years + 98 days. So IF he were to be kept down four nearly four months this year then the team would steal themselves an extra year of control as ZW wouldn't be eligible for FA until after 2020 season rather than the current projection of 2019. Otoh, if he pitches poorly enough to warrant working his ass in Vegas for close to 2/3 of the season then when he hits the FA market no longer remains a high priority.

Wait, so now that deGrom cut his hair he's going to be using extensions on the days he pitches so as to maintain that "flow" look he's always had? That sounds like an odd strategy.

-- Daniel Murphy is not yet completely healed from off-season knee surgery and so will start the season on the DL. He has yet to play in ST -- other former NYM 2B-turned superstar Justin Turner was HBP'd the other day resulting in a broken wrist. -- and just today, Madison Bumgarner took a liner off his LEFT hand and it is fractured. Story still developing but this sounds like a long one. Giants made all those changes over the winter (McCutcheon, Longoria) and now have this thrown in their face. They'll also start the year without RHP Jeff Samardzjia. Best laid plans ... He of course was scheduled for OD, against the Dodgers and Kershaw (against whom MadBum has 4 hits and 2 career HRs in 20 ABs). Kershaw, btw, has yet to allow an ER this spring

Conforto is 0-3 w/a K Mets down 5-1 thru 6 Ving Rhame (or whatever his first name is), who has been listed as probable to make the club, gave up runs 3, 4 & 5

Then there was the March 31st, 1998 Shea opener (their first game ever in March?) - aka: the 'Alberto Castillo game' for when he singled in the only run of the game in the bottom of the 14th I was at that one in shorts, mainly because it hit 86 degrees that day.

First thing everyone would need to do would be to go back and check-out (or re-checkout) that Lampoon issue JCL references. THAT should kick up a few ideas as well as remind you what true satiric humor was like before Nat Lamp became nothing more than a brand name to slap onto mediocre comedies.

Wheeler wasn't exactly smacked all over the park -- the hardest hit was probably Roark's double -- nor did he get a lot of help from his defense ... AGAIN!, but he was simply behind every hitter to where it took him some 50 pitches just to get through 2 innings. Very frustrating to see.

A few of those guys barely played in 2017 and/or were approaching the end of the line age/health-wise, but the biggest chunk of them were at least more or less full-timers last year Mark Reynolds 1B = 520 AB Brandon Phillips 2B - 572 J.J. Hardy SS - 254 Yunel Escobar 3B - 350 Jayson Werth LF - 289 Melky Cabrera RF - 238 Jose Bautista RF - 587 Seth Smith RF - 330 John Jaso RF - 256 Matt Holliday DH - 373 R.A. Dickey SP = 190 IP Scott Feldman SP - 111 Ubaldo Jimenez SP = 142 John Lackey SP = 170 Matt Garza SP = 114 Joe Blanton RP = 51 Appearances Greg Holland RP = 61 Trevor Rosenthal RP = 50 Drew Storen RP = 58